Keyboard.



PATENTBD JULY 16, 1907.

F. KUBAi KEYBOARD APPLIGATION TILED ECW111905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK KUBA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

'- KEYBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK KUBA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and .State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Keyboards, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates'to keyboards of musical in struments, and more particularly to the keyboard as applied to the piano.

The primary object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient means to facilitate the playing of the piano, and more especially in playing semitonc grace notes in octaves from the white to the black keys, and further playing arpeggios orchords in keys where the thumb and the small finger rest on the black keys, while the other fingers have to play on the white keys, thus avoiding the necessity for picking out the white I keys slowly in the spaces between the black keys in the usual manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and eilicient means which may be adapted to instruments as ordinarily constructed, which permits the most difficult music to be readily performed while the fingers assume natural positions, and which can be used in all cases without the slightest difliculty.

The invention will be hereinafter more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure l is a fragmentary perspec tive view, illustrating one form of the invention as applied to a piano. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, partly in elevation, showing a part of the mechanism or movement connected with the key. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view on a larger scale, of several of the keys. Fig. 4. is a fragmentary plan view; and Figs. 5 and 6 are detail perspective views, showing how the keys are cut away or recessed for the black keys.

The keyboard 10 has white keys 11, and the usual black keys 12 arranged in the same relative position which they assume in the ordinary keyboard, and may be operated manually or otherwise in the usual way. The white keys 11 have the parts 13 in front of the black keys, and are recessed on either or both sides as at 14 for the black keys, the latter extending above the white keys as is usual. At the rear of the black keys l and adjacent thereto is a raised or higher part 15, which extends above the part 13 and somewhat above the upper surface of the black keys 12', and said part 1.5 is cut away at either or both sides, as at 16, so that when said keys are depressed they will not operate or engage the black keys.

The part 15 may be of any suitable shape and may be formed integral with the key body. This part 15 is of sufiicient length to permit the fingers to readily engage the same for producing the proper tones, and as will be seen in Figs. 5 and 6, the said part is either L-shaped or T-shaped according to the position of the white keys with respect to the black keys. Each key is properly pivoted and extends rearwardly within the instrument, and is connected with suitable mechanism 17 for producing the notes in the usual manner.

It will be seen that by means of the raised part 15, there will be no difficulty in operating the white keys while parts of the hand rests upon the black keys, while a forward sliding movement is necessary to produce certain effects with the ordinary form of keyboard. The present construction also materially assists the performance of intricate music by players with broad fingers, which under the present arrangement is exceedingly difficult.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination with :1 piano keyboard comprising a plurality of white keys and a plurality of black keys spaced to permit the white keys to be played between them in the usual manner. of a plurality of fingering parts at the rear and adjacent to the black keys and forming ex tensions of the white keys which are higher than the upper surface of the black keys, whereby the white keys may be depressed both in the rear and in the front of the black keys and the black keys and white keys operated in the usual manner.

2. A piano keyboard having a plurality of black keys and a plurality of white keys each of which has an integral and substantially rectangular raised part at the rear of and adjacent to the black keys whereby the white keys may be depressed both in the rear and in the front of said black keys and the fingers moved quickly from one to the other, saidraised part of the white keys being higher than the black keys and the latter having the usual spaces between said keys to permit the while keys to be played between the blur-k keys.

FRANK Klll'lA.

Witnesses M. 'lIliNl-llt, II. InNmuN. 

